Carol and Irwin - On Caregiving

This week we are happy to feature Carol Rosenstein as our Caregiver of the Week along with her husband Irwin. Irwin is living with Alzheimer’s Disease and together they foundedmusicmendsminds.org as a way of gathering those living with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia to play music together. 

Irwin also plays keyboards in the 5th Dementia band, which is a band under the Music Mends Minds organization that meets twice per week at the Brentwood Presbyterian Church. The upcoming film, The 5th Dementia, is a documentary that follows the musicians and singers in the band and highlights the joy and healing that music brings to their lives. To view the trailer and see images from the film, go to:The5thDementiaDocumentary.com

Music is such a large part of Carol and Irwin’s life. Read how below in Carol’s caregiving story:

“On the weekends Irwin and I have cuddle sessions. He has a single bed now with rails. I lie sideways on his little bed and we listen to music together. I sit in the room with him at night til he goes to sleep. I like to help put him to bed. We listen to music and I caress him ’til he settles down. It’s all about music. It’s an unspoken language.

Between 5-8pm each day he gets demented. This is the sundowning window. He does not have medication at this time of day. I feel helpless most of the time but the music helps. I put music on and we march around the house or in the back yard. He used to play saxophone in the marching band at Penn. When the music is on, it sends him back in time. He moves his body to the beat. He claps and sings. It lifts his spirit. Sometimes he will look into my eyes and tell me he loves me. I feel fear then. I’m very scared but we are in it together for the full distance. I thank Irwin everyday for what he’s doing to help us with Music Mends Minds. The project is my life line. It makes both of us feel good. Music is the fuel that keeps us going.”